We are honoring our local veterans with a Veterans Day Ceremony at the Orange County Veterans Memorial Site at Homestead Park.  It is at 11 a.m., Monday, November 11th, 2019.  The memorial is located above the Seymour Center at 2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill.  There is plenty of parking.

Memorial Day is for the dead.  Veterans Day is for the living… It is a day to honor and appreciate all who have served in the Uniformed Services.

Look around you.  You are looking at the faces of veterans and the sons and daughters of veterans.  Look at our buildings, our roads, our communities, and the heritage that we know as Orange County.  Listen to the stillness of the early morning and twilight.  We enjoy all that  we see because of the legacy of the thousands of men and women who left Orange County to serve their country–our Veterans.

Our veterans look just like you and me.  Many might dust off and wear a cap, shirt, or jacket with the letters VETERAN embroidered on it.  Smile when you meet them.  No, you don’t have to “thank them for their service,” but that would be nice.  But, I’d venture to say that they would hope that someday you might understand what it took to earn the title, “Veteran.”  We can help you with that.

A church in New Hamphire, the New England Shores Baptist Church,  honored American Legion Post 35 in Hampton, New Hampshire.  They created a three-part video tribute to their local veterans.  It is brand new and was published just three days ago as a tribute for Veterans Day 2019.  Why not take a moment, sit back and enjoy their video.  It includes “Our Children” by Commander Berkley Bennett.  Your heart will be touched.  As a veteran, I think you’ll have a better sense of  what it took to earn the title, VETERAN.

– Lee Heavlin